Wednesday, February 28, 2007

I'm reading every Aquaman solo adventure in publication order. After I read each story I will post the cover/splash page and a few thoughts on the story.

Adventure #164 (May 1951) - The Strangest Questions in the World!

When Brad Jensen graduates from the Coast Guard Academy, he hopes for a sea job but it bitterly disappointed to be assigned to a department that answers questions from ships at sea.

I've got mixed feelings about this one. It's a cute story, but Aquaman's help for Brad seems a bit off. For the first problem, the dust storm, it's not bad. But the second problem... why didn't Brad ask Aquaman to save the burning ship?

Aquaman's goal is to make Brad look good so he'll get a sea posting. While Brad has "weeks of training" before he takes command of the department, it's only a few days before he's moved up. All well and good for Brad... except the Coast Guard wasted all that training on him, and what about the poor guy who has to take his place?

Finny Friends Report: On the splash page, Aquaman has squids releasing "Aquatic Ink" which is being provided in jars by a line of lobsters. Aquaman rides a giant sea turtle up to the dock at the graduation. Aquaman gives Brad some pilot fish in case he runs into any questions he cannot answer. In Brad's first problem, Aquaman calls in whales to clear up the dust storm. For the second problem, Aquaman has sawfish carve up blocks of ice, then has turtles move them close to the burning ship so the gold can be saved.

Quotefile: Opening Text Box: "What kind of noise annoys an oyster? How deep is the ocean? How do you stop a dust storm at sea? These and dozens of equally fantastic questions daily pour into a special department of the Coast Guard which prides itself on its ability to answer every query, no matter how bizarre!" I just want to note that they never do answer those first two questions.

We're getting into the stories that I'm really familiar with, because many of these late Golden Age/early Silver Age Adventure comics aren't hard to find in poor to good condition. The next few issues are ones that I've had longer than just about anything else in my collection.